


Tarnished Silk

by gillianaunofficial



Series: Stella x Scully Prompts [13]
Category: The Fall (TV 2013), The X-Files
Genre: Angst because that’s the only thing I can write apparently, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22153282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gillianaunofficial/pseuds/gillianaunofficial
Summary: Prompt from Tumblr: “Plaid Shirt”
Relationships: Stella Gibson/Dana Scully
Series: Stella x Scully Prompts [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1520597
Kudos: 13





	Tarnished Silk

She’d seen it there, in the back of Stella’s wardrobe. Red checks patterned with yellow and blue lines. The only un-Stella like thing in the wardrobe. Casual. Scully had never seen her wear it. Not in all the years she’d known her. Yet, as they moved in together, throwing away and donating countless other unused items, the plaid shirt had remained untouched.

Stella had been called away on a case, even though it was one of her days off, so Scully was alone. She’d fidgeted, trying to concentrate on reading or lesson planning for the next week but couldn’t get her thoughts straight. She’d gone upstairs to the bedroom and realising how much of a mess it had become in the last couple of busy weeks she decided to tidy. As she was retrieving one of her night shirts, balled up under the dusty bed, she caught sight of a shoe Stella had mislaid the other night. She placed the shirt down and went to replace the shoe in the wardrobe with it’s partner. It was then, again, that she saw the red material of Stella’s unworn plaid shirt, hanging, pristine and flat among her silks. She unhooked the coat hanger and held the shirt out in front of her. It was big, a lot bigger than she’d estimated. Certainly not Stella’s size. She turned the collar over, reading the tag. Much of the writing had faded away over time, leaving only illegible grey spots and a small number, 38. A men’s size. A men’s shirt. She brought the material to her face, sneezing at the dust it had accumulated, unworn at the back of the wardrobe. The material was worn but soft from age. It smelt of the distinct smell you find in old clothes at the back of a charity shop, musty from years of sweat and human smells seeping into it. Yet there was another smell, an aftershave maybe, Scully felt like she had smelt it before, in a time long since passed. She heard the doorbell ring and went downstairs to answer it, the smell of the shirt hanging in her nostrils. She opened the door and Stella stood there, folding her umbrella.

“I forgot my key.” She replied before shaking the umbrella off and entering. A stray raindrop ran down the curve of her nose. She hung her jacket up and propped her umbrella against the sideboard.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” Stella said, as Scully quickly averted her eyes.

“Nothing.” She replied. “It’s not like you to forget your key.”

“And it’s not like you to stare at me like that.” Stella said, taking her heels off and ascending the wooden staircase. Her fingers barely brushing the banister. Scully checked the door was properly shut and was about to follow Stella upstairs when she heard a pained gasp.

“Stella are you okay?” She asked, rushing upstairs. She entered the bedroom to see Stella standing over the bed, where Scully had left the plaid shirt, her brow was furrowed and her mouth was agape. Scully stood next to her, attempting to lay a comforting hand on her arm, she was clearly upset, why Scully wasn’t sure. Stella batted away her hand.

“Why did you take this out?” She asked a hand resting on top of the shirt, silently tracing the pattern.

“I was only looking.” She said, tentative. Stella’s eyes shone with the threat of falling tears. She leaned on the hardwood bed frame, not attempting to comfort Stella again.

“You shouldn’t have been.” She said, frosty.

“Why are you so upset?” Scully asked, her head quirked to the side. That inquisitive expression that Stella knew so well. Stella didn’t reply, she held the shirt up, looking at it, just as Scully had done only a few minutes prior. She looked at it, a long strange look, before bringing it to her chest, in a bundle, almost as though she were holding a newly born child. Scully watched on, she felt as though she were encroaching on a private moment, a vulnerable moment. It was like Stella was in her own bubble which she hadn’t realised was transparent.

“Stella.” Scully said, taking a step closer, her fingers slipping from the bed frame, to her side, and then to the bare section of Stella’s forearm. She was cold. Suddenly, she looked up, their eyes locked, Stella, still teary and Scully still inquisitive. Stella gave a crooked, almost smile, her lips curled slightly. She put the shirt down and brought a hand to her face, wiping away the only tear that had fallen.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you. After all it’s in our wardrobe. Which we share.” She said, the word “share” feeling somewhat unnatural.

“Why are you upset?” She said, tracing the small rise of the bone in Stella’s arm.

“It was my father’s shirt.” Stella said, turning fully to Scully for the first time since they’d been in the room together. “He gave it to me when he died. He told me I could have it.” Stella glanced down at the floor, her immaculately painted toenails.

“Stella, I shouldn’t have taken it out.” Stella bowed her head and Scully kissed the skin between her eyebrows.

“It’s okay. You didn’t know.” Stella said, her arms finding themselves around Scully’s waist, pulling them together, a soft, mutual embrace. Stella withdrew and went about putting the shirt back, attempting to keep it as uncreased as she could. She shut the wardrobe door with a dull bump as the door hit the wood. Another long lost lifetime shut behind a thin wall of oak. Stella walked to Scully, they embraced again, their breathes tickling each other. In those moments, Stella had released something, something she didn’t even know she’d been holding. From that moment on she hugged Scully even harder and kissed her for a second longer. Life was a miracle but a finite resource that she had to make the most of.


End file.
